WATER SUPPLY FOR MASTERTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1937, 12 March 1885, Page 2

WATER SUPPLY FOR MASTERTON.

The following'is Mr Geo. Beetham's letter to the.Borough Council on the above'subject:— Sir',—l have'the honor to suggest that the question of a water supply for the Borough of Masterton should be taken into consideration at this juncture. If the lighting proposals are agreed to by the ratepayers, ns I confidently assume will be thocaso, it would minimise the.ex : penses incidental to both services if the necessary work of breaking up, the streets for the purpose of laying down the pipes could be undertaken concurrently, I believe the all-important question of head water will, if fairly grappled with, prove to be comparatively an inexpensive item. I'have already in the columns of the local papers drawn attention to the fact that' head water could easily be procured from the Waipoua overflow by the Waipipi creek. Negotiations are pending, whereby the Government (on account of'the preservation of railway communication) and the two local bodies (the County Council and the Masterton Road Board) are jointly interested, in works that must be undertaken for the purpose of confining the Waipoua within a certain area. If this important work could be undertaken with the object in view of the construction of a reservoir from which a supply could be drawn for Masterton at. the same time, I am convinced that the share of the compensation that would have to be borne by the Borough would.' be infinitessimal in comparison with tho. advantages that would be derived from the establishment of a supply of pure water for household purposes, and head water for the all-important object, the lessening the risk of fires within the Borough. Assuming that negotiations with" the local bodies and the Government for' the construction of a reservoir on Mr Herbert's land at Opaki failed, the Borough could then fall back upon an alternative scheme, the construction of a concrete tank or reservoir on the bank near Mr Adams', from which, as also would be necessary in the first-mentioned proposal of mine, the Borough could be supplied by gravitation, but in this second case the water would have te be pumped up to the tanks from wells under the banks either by a small steam engine or by hydraulic rams that would be readily worked by power procurable from the Waipoua stream, Mr J. D. Baird, of Wellington, with whom I have been in communication on this matter, kindly suppljed me with estimates of the cost of the necessaay mains that would be required to supply the Borough, and also tfye cost of laying the same through the streets. I regret much that J find, that I have not this estimate wit); me to-day but I will gladly forward it to the Town Clerk if your Council should think the question worthy of consideration. Iron piping is at this juncture procurable at the lowest rates quoted for many years. Oircumstances indicate, the chance qf jpint construction of a suitable reservoir of liead water. The health pf the rapidly increasing Borough demands consideration, J don't wish to be an alarmist, but is it not the case that the most sparkling well water may contain the germs of a deadly disease, which through the pprous soil of the Borough may have been cpmmunipated to the well used by the overflow or drainage from a neighbors baok yard. These incontestable facts seem to indicate to me that the timo hasaarrived when the two inestimable advantages, light and water Bupply are within reach of the inhabitants of the Borough, and it will afford me the greatest gratification if I can in any way assist my friends to secure such much needed advantages. I have, &c, OEORGE BeETHAM. P.S.—Jf the water supply question is taken up at once, the expense of the fire-engine would be unnecessary.